HAMPTON, Va. (March 29, 2024) – The Hampton women's tennis team is set to play two matches in the next two days. The Lady Pirates will play at HBCU rival Norfolk State tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in the NSU Tennis Complex. Then, they will host East Carolina at 11:00 a.m. at Neilson-Screen Stadium on Saturday.

In their last match, the Lady Pirates fell 6-1 to UNCW. Sofia Sokolova and Meiri Okuwaki won the only doubles match for Hampton with a 6-2 victory over Lucia Gomez and Anna Parker Shumate 6-2.  Diana Starodubtseva earned a point for the Lady Pirates by defeating Stela Joksimovic 6-4, 7-5 in singles.

So Far This Season

Mio Kozaki and Diana Starodubtseva lead the team with singles records of 7-4. Masa Mitic, Meiri Okuwaki, and Sofia Sokolova are 6-4. Lucia Jorrin Fornandez is 6-6. Okuwaki and Sokolova are 7-1 as a pair in doubles play. The next best doubles team is Starodubtseva and Kozaki at 4-4.

Scouting the Spartans (3-11)

Peter Banas has been coaching the men's and women's tennis teams since February of 2022. He has led the team to a 3-11 record with wins against Virginia State (7-0) and Coppin State twice (6-1 in both matches).

Gabriela Davidescu holds the best singles record for Norfolk State at 10-4. Davidescu and Irina Ioana Iurea are 6-2 as a doubles pair.

Scouting the ECU Pirates (8-6)

Kirstin Burgess is coaching the Pirates women's tennis team in her third season with the program. She helped lead Martina Muzzolon to the school's first regional championship in school history. The Pirates have defeated two CAA teams, Elon (4-3) and Campbell (6-1), and fell against two, William and Mary (4-3) and Charleston (6-1).

Kim Auerswald and Ines Bachir are 8-4 in singles competition. In doubles play, Martina Muzzolon and Kexuan Zhou have earned a record of 7-1.